British Hotel, Dresden, 1945. source: Fotothek/SLUB
January 27, 2010
In November 2009, Hapimag was able to restart construction on its new city center property near the historic Neumarkt (New Market) in Dresden, Germany and the building project is running according to the new schedule. This means that Hapimag anticipates opening the residence in November or December 2010. When completed, there will be 38 1- and 2-room apartments with a total of 76 beds
Hapimag laid the foundation stone in November of 2008, with an anticipated opening date of spring, 2010, but an unexpected legal issue raised by the owner of the neighboring plot of land caused a delay of 6 months, which pushed back the schedule.
Called the Stadt-Palais Hapimag resort, the building is of special historic significance because it is being constructed on the site of the former Palais Beichlingen, called the British Hotel, which was destroyed during the fire bombing that leveled much of Dresden in 1945 during World War II. A cellar vault was the only thing that remained intact from the 1945 bombings, and the new, old British Hotel is being reconstructed on top of it.
Hapimag is reconstructing the building to look like it did before the war, with a huge baroque façade true to the original. Some 50 or so salvaged sandstone fragments from the façade of the original British Hotel will be used in the reconstruction.
The Neumarkt in Dresden is a central and culturally significant section of the Dresden inner city. After the World War II, Dresden fell under Soviet occupation and later the communist German Democratic Republic who rebuilt the Neumarkt area in socialist realist style and partially with historic buildings. However, huge areas and parcels of the place remained vacant. After the fall of Communism and German reunification the decision was made to restore the Neumarkt to its pre-war look.
The completion of the reconstructed Dresden Frauenkirche in 2005 marked the first step in rebuilding the Neumarkt. Quarter I and the front section of Quarters II, III, IV and V(II) have since been completed.
With Hapimag commited to reconstructing the old hotel, which is near the Frauenkirche, to its former glory, the company has made the city happy.
When completed, this will be the 11th Hapimag city residence, and the 59th Hapimag resort. Hapimag has resorts located in 18 countries.
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